Students Engagement and Learning through the Development of Didactic Models for Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Eight mechanical engineering students built three didactic models that show how different mechanical elements and mechanisms work in a pickup truck. This study reviews their experience while manufacturing them, challenges faced and their learning experience. The project was directed by students entirely which posed planning, organizing, manufacturing and fundraising challenges. The biggest technical challenge was cutting open certain parts of the models to expose internal mechanisms; it was overcome combining different manufacturing strategies and equipment at hand. Every challenge was confronted as a team helping develop leadership, group work and other human skills. The further impact and usage of the models built was analyzed through polls sent to professors and students using them for different classes such as introduction to mechanical engineering, mechanical design and material sciences. The models have facilitated learning complex concepts, generated more open discussions, made learning more interactive, created enthusiasm and curiosity amongst students.

OLJ September 2023 27(3)

“…This study explores engagement of Thai and German university students studying online, considering the role of relationships between students as well as students and lectures and of technologies. Behavioral, cognitive, and affective engagement, as part of the engagement construct (Moore et al, 2009;Perez et al, 2018), were addressed. The study aims to shed light on the possible role of national, institutional, and cybercultures in engagement in online learning by exploring how values, attitudes, and behaviors related to online learning differed across the two samples.…”

“…While student engagement plays an important role in online learning, scholars have found it to be vaguely conceptualized (e.g., Ashwin & McVitty, 2015) and weakly theorized (Kahn, 2014). Engagement has been defined as an investment of students' resources, such as their energy, effort, and time, aiming at improving learning outcomes (Trowler & Trowler, 2011), which can include behavioral (e.g., participation and persistence), affective (emotional reactions to learning, e.g., excitement) and cognitive dimensions (e.g., self-regulation and deep learning strategies) (Moore et al, 2009;Perez et al, 2018). It has been debated whether dimensions of social engagement (Fredricks et al, 2016) and agency (Klemenčič, 2017;Reeve & Tseng) should be added.…”

Increasing Students Awareness of Safety Designing Workplace Base on Ergonomic Principle Using Video

“…Teachers in teaching must follow students' development to be more readily accepted by students [8]. Teachers today make lots of exciting videos for classroom learning.…”

“…It is caused by vibrations, non-stop work, stress at work, and wrong posture. Therefore, ergonomic applications' primary purpose is to ensure the design is safe, free of injury, comfortable, capable of improving employee performance and the human body [8]. In other words, ergonomic applications in design can provide convenience to humans and save time [9].…”

The Role of Project-based learning in first year engineering

“…A substantial 90.5% of students believe that the models have significantly contributed to their learning experience. These findings highlight the effectiveness of the learning experiences for most students [16].…”